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Nope, there is rock in indiana....what I am talking about is just a blasted limestone roadcut

So its like loose rock? Not real cliffs?

Thanks for the head-up!

The roadcut in bloomington is for topropping or pathetic leads with bolts 2-3ft apart. It's highly polished limestone, and the features you climb upon are the holes used to drill down in the rock when they blasted it. You are about 50 or more feet above a major four lane highway and it is so noisy you can't hear anyone more than 20 feet away. The only reason to go there is so you know never to go again. However, there is bouldering along the Muskatatuck River that I hear is pretty good (excellant by Indiana standards). That's about it for climbing in Indiana. I bouldered out of desparation along Sugar Creek. You can find bits of choss here and there, but climbing is not allowed within any State Park. At a place called Turkey Run State park there are small cliffs that are climbable, but given the uniqueness of the area within Inidana, it's all protected and climbing strictly forbidden.

Meadows and I checked out the bouldering at Muskatatuck State Park and given the time of the year it was wet and dirty so we didn't climb there. It's highly featured undercut limestone cliffline bouldering and I bet it would be pretty fun in dry conditions. We were privileged to have access to Spoonman's private gym though and man that place is RAD..nice wall!

Lets see....easy access, top rope access, short cliffs, and a low traffic area....

I dont know why everyone is bashing it. It sounds like a great place to bring a large inexperienced group.

Unlikely is good if you live in Indy and have only a few free hours. It's still real rock, albeit sortof man made with the drill holes and all. Anyways, it beats climbing in a gym on a hot day.

The quality of the climbing doesn't matter - it's the right kind of place for 1 leader, 4 ropes and 11 gumbies. The most popular spots in the Red isn't.

tomdarch wrote:The quality of the climbing doesn't matter - it's the right kind of place for 1 leader, 4 ropes and 11 gumbies. The most popular spots in the Red isn't.

agreed

Thanks Eric. The warning is appreciated.

I agree with eveyone that it sucks to have large groups at popular cliffs. Instead, climbers should exercise restraint and not take out these huge groups. Still, if they're going to come, and they are, it's nice to have a warning before hiking to the crag.